Part 7 - Benefits

Thoughts on some of the benefits of yoga.

· mind,body,science,yoga,joy

Yoga can help.

Yoga calms the mind. I heard an instructor say a few weeks ago, when talking about cell phones in class, "It'll be there in a hour." It's true. The phone will still be there and whatever the emergency (usually not an actual emergency) is, it'll still be there in an hour as well.

Yoga calms the body. By calming the body, actually lowering the metabolic rate over time, yoga (and meditation) lowers the blood pressure. While this is a state change for new practitioners, for longtime yogis the lower blood pressure can be a trait change.

Yoga offers community. Some people go to church on Sundays. Some people play golf. Some people root for SEC football teams. They're all granfaloons, in a way.

Granfallooon - A group of two or more people who imagine or are manipulated to believe they share a connection based on some circumstance of little or no real significance.

- K. Vonnegut

Some may take umbrage with the idea that yogis connections are of "... no real significance." I'd guess SEC fans would take a similar stance. But I digress.

The point is this: Yoga has befefits that are real, some medically viable and measurable, others anecdotal and valuable. Either way.